Passenger Kicked Off Flight for Poking Seatmate With Pen

As Riley and I arrived at Reagan International Airport on Thursday, we noticed immediately that our flight was delayed by more than two hours. This was highly ususual. In the four years we've been flying this D.C.-to-Milwaukee route, we've never been delayed. Not only that, but the weather in D.C. was perfect and there didn't seem to be any big problems elsewhere around the country.

I thought there had to be either a mechanical difficulty or a plane taken out of service. Turns out it appears I was almost correct.

After arriving in Milwaukee I heard the news reports of a passenger  removed from a Southwest Airlines plane after what airline officials called a "disturbance" on board a jet at Midway Airport. This timing seems to synch up with what would cause a delay for our trip:

A Southwest spokesperson said a passenger on Flight 577 to Manchester, N.H., was removed from the flight for "poking her seatmate with a pen to stop him from snoring."

It was a rude awakening for air traveler Lenny Mordarski. The encounter left ink marks on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Imagine being asleep and then being stung by bees, and then waking up and going 'owww,'" Mordarski said.